The Phantom Ship
by strider2
Summary: A group of mercenaries who are an elete search and rescue team have been sent to check out a deserted battleship. But they find more than they bargain for.
1. Default Chapter

The Phantom Ship

Awakening 

The beeping of the vid phone jolted Stranix awake. He bolted upright, breathing heavy. He had been having a dream. He remembered that much, but the details of the dream escaped him. No matter, the only reason his phone would be beeping in the middle of the night was because there was some vital emergency. 

He reached over, and pushed the button under the vid phone. A picture of his superior, general Grant came on the screen. 

"Stranix, there has been an incident. Gather your squad, and report to the CP. You'll get further information once you get here. All I can tell you is that this will be a deep space mission, make sure your squad has all the appropriate gear." The picture faded to blackness. 

Great, another interstellar incident, and his squad had to do all the dirty work. Stranix thought. His squad, the rejects, was a deep space reconnaissance team. They got their name because most of the people in it were military rejects. Stranix pulled them together, and got them to work into a seamless team. They specialized on checking out alien ships, scouting unknown planets on the very end of inhabited space, and a trait that no one accept the team and general Grant knew, insertion, and assassination on any planet. 

He got out of bed, grabbed his gear, and dressed into his standard marine armor. The servos whirred slightly as he exited his tiny quarters on the space station that had been his home for several years. He walked one door down, and opened it. 

"Wake up Butch, grab all your deep space gear, and report to the CP. We got a mission." Stranix said. A sleepy grunt of assent was the only reply. "On the double, lets go big guy." Butch was the units brute strength. He was almost seven feet tall, and his body was pure muscle. He had to have his marine armor made special, because they didn't stock it in his size. His real name was actually James Monroe, but no one called him that. The last person who did ended up in the infirmary for a week, after just one punch. 

Stranix exited the small quarters, and went on to the one right next to it. He entered, and said. 

"Time to get up E-man. We got a mission, get all your deep space gear, and report to the CP." 

"What the hell happened this time?" Came the grumbled reply. 

"I don't know, I know as much as you right now." Stranix replied. 

E-man, was short for Enflamed. The teams firebat. He got his nickname because his fiery red hair, set out in wavy lines, looked like his head was on fire. It was only appropriate that he dealt out death by fire. 

Stranix once again exited the tiny quarters, and went on to the next one. In side this one was Mouse. Normally the name mouse is given in a joking manner. The person is actually huge. But Mouse actually was smaller than an average sized person. He piloted the unit's SCV. 

"Yo, little brother, we got a mission, so rise and shine. Grab your deep space gear, and report to the CP stat."

"Roger that." Came Mouse's reply. 

The rest of the squad consisted of, Michaels, and Ace. The teams flyboys. They piloted the two wraiths of the squad. Then there was Duke and Speals. They also wore standard marine armor. And Duke had been trying to get it through everyone's head for years, but still people asked him that famous question. "If he was related to the famous General Duke." And the answer was no. He was in no way shape or form related to him. The fact that they had the same last name was a coincidence. Then came the two ghosts. Randal and Reindhardt. Last but not least were Billy and Tanner. They were a little bit of everything. What role they took on was effected by the situation. They were skilled dropship pilots, were versatile in marine armor, could roast things with flame throwers, were crack shots with the 25mm C-10 canister rifle that the ghosts used, even if they couldn't cloak like the ghosts, they could operate goliaths, and tanks, if they were available. And on this mission, it didn't look like they would be. 

In fifteen minutes, the whole squad was assembled in the CP. Everyone had all their gear, and were ready to deploy. At this hour, General Grant, and a few routine sensor monitors were all that were on duty in the CP. 

"Gentlemen, I will get strait to the point. For you must leave immediately. The scout ship Intimate reported a strange find. They saw a battlecruiser sitting in deep space, abandoned. They tried to hail the ship, but got no response. They did not have the right crew for a boarding party, so they called it in, and you got the job. The ship was later identified as the Vindicator. The ship vanished without a trace a decade ago, and now it has turned up. Your mission will be to go to the ship, enter it, and find out what the hell happened. We do not know if there are any hostels on board, but assume that there are. I am giving this mission to you because you are the best. Make me proud. Are there any questions?" There were none. "Your own flag ship, Arrogance will take you there immediately. The coordinates of the Vindicator are being downloaded to the computer as we speak. Good luck."

* * * *

"Doesn't look like there is a scratch on it." Stranix commented to Captain Greer. He was the captain of the Arrogance. They were standing on the bridge of the flag ship, and were surveying the Vindicator trough the front viewport. 

"Indeed, it looks totally unharmed." Greer said. "Scanners, are there any life forms detected." 

"None sir." Said a technician on one of the consoles of the bridge. 

"You should report to the hangar. I'll keep you informed if anything happens here." Greer said.

"Yes sir." Stranix said back. He saluted, and left the bridge, walking to the hangar. 

Once in the hangar, Stranix addressed his squad. They were all lounging around the dropship assigned to them. 

"All right listen up people. We are go for our mission in ten minutes. Do all last minute equipment checks, and stow your gear in the dropship if you haven't already done so. But before we start, I want this to be a by the book exercise. This ship, and it's disappearance are famous. Even if people have forgotten about it over the years. Now that it's appeared again it will raise some questions. And if it ever gets off classified, every one will be able to know about it. So the whole Terran nation will be reviewing this at one point. Is that clear? No careless mistakes."

"Yes sir." They all shouted back.

"Okay, everyone get ready." 

Michales and Ace got in their Wraiths, and prepped for launch. Mouse was already in his SCV, waiting by the airlock, ready to throw the switch, that would open the hangar door. 

"Tanner, you'll be our dropship pilot. Billy, we might need some extra firepower, so you'll go in as a firebat." Stranix said. 

"Roger." Tanner said.

"Right-o." Billy said, moving off into the dropship to suit up in his firebat armor. 

"Everyone else has their normal job, I want everyone prepped for hard vacuum in two minutes, we're green in five minutes." Stranix said. Everyone accept Mouse, Michales and Ace got into the dropship and made sure their suits were sealed. 

After five minutes they got the radio from the bridge. They were clear for launch. 

"Punch it Mouse!" Stranix said. Mouse hit the button next to the air lock. It sealed the doors to the hangar, and warning lights began to flash all over the place. After thirty seconds the doors of the main hangar began to open. 

The two Wraiths powered up their thrusters, and moved in single file towards the hangar door. 

"This is Wraith one, we're ready for role out and flyby." Came Ace's voice over the radio. 

"Roger Wraith one, you are clear for launch." Came the voice of a bridge technician. 

"Wraith one away."

"Wraith two away." 

"All right boys, you know the drill. Give me a flyby report." Stranix said over the radio. 

"Roger that proceeding with flyby." Ace responded. 

The rest of the squad was watching on the dropship's monitors. While they were still in the hangar, they had all the feeds from the bridge's computers. The pair of Wraiths moved into formation. One slightly behind and to the right of the other, and did a visual check on all sides of the massive battlecruiser. 

"Wraith one, no signs of any activity, no lights, no waste ports opening, not even the beacon lights are flashing. What ever happened, it didn't damage the ship at all, though." Ace said.

"Roger that Wraith one, attempt communication." Stranix ordered.

"Roger that sir," Ace said. "Trying to reach her on all civilian, military, and encrypted frequencies. Vindicator, this is Wraith one of the Terran battlecruiser Arrogance. Do you copy?" The only reply was silence. "Vindicator do you copy? This is Wraith one from the Terran battlecruiser Arrogance." Again nothing. "It's no good sir, there's no response."

"Right, I want you two on alert status, continue to fly cover. We're sending Mouse in." Stranix said.

"Roger that, flying cover for little brother." Michales said. 

"Mouse, your free to launch, check out the main hold. Watch yourself little brother." Stranix said.

"Roger that sir, and I always do." Mouse said. He moved his SCV out of the hangar door, and into deep space. There were stars all around him. But nothing closer than a few light years away. The Vindicator was sitting out in the middle of no where. 

Because there was no response to their hails, and the hangar door was closed, they would have to cut a hole in the hangar door. That was Mouse's job. He would pilot his SCV up to it, cut a hole, and then the dropship would latch onto it, and the squad would board. 

Mouse brought his SCV along side the gigantic ship. It was an easy matter to find the main belly hangar. He moved his SCV right up to the large door. 

"It will take a few minutes to cut through the door, they make these things tough for a reason." Mouse said. 

"Take your time, and do it right." Stranix said. 

"Roger that, proceeding to cut." Mouse said. He brought out his fusion cutters that were mounted on the arms of his SCV. He started to trace a line down the side of the door. The process brought sparks, and the cutters slowly began to cut through the metal. It took several minutes. But finally there was a square the size of a dropship's access hatch cut into the door. Mouse grabbed the metal that he cut away, and pushed it into the hangar. He didn't want that to hit one of the fighters if he let it drift out in space. 

"Your door has been cut, zero activity in the hangar, you are clear for your approach." Mouse said.

"Roger that little brother, Wraiths report." Stranix said. 

"All clear, still no activity in the ship, or around it. Zero hostels, or meteoroids." Ace said.

"Roger that Wraith one." Stranix said. "Bridge, we're starting our approach."

"Roger that, be careful. We'll watch your back." Came captain Greer's voice. 

"Tanner, take us out." Stranix said.

"Starting our approach." Tanner said. The pilot smoothly moved the dropship off the hangar floor, cruised across the open space, to the main door. He exited the hangar, and moved across the small area of deep space until he got to the deserted ship. He maneuvered the dropship towards the main hangar, where Mouse had cut the hole. Once in position, Tanner went to the camera mounted on the side, to guide the boarding sleeve towards the hole cut in the side. The sleeve latched on, and made a vacuum around the hole. 

"We are sealed and good to go." Tanner said, flipping a switch to bring the ship into standby mode. 

"Tanner, once we're in close and seal the door. But still make sure you watch your back."

"I got my hand held impaler right here." He said patting the particularly large pistol holstered to his leg. It was small for a gauss rifle, but incredibly large for a pistol. 

"All right, lets move people, we're on a tight schedule." Stranix said. 

Everyone moved out in single file towards the boarding sleeve. The sleeve was big enough to accommodate marine and firebat armor, but you had to walk one at a time. They filed into the sleeve, Stranix was in the lead. He walked up to the airlock. He took one deep calming breath, before he threw the switch that opened the air lock. With a hiss the door slid to the right. 

Stranix brought up his gauss rifle. He didn't see much in the hangar. Mostly because he it was dark. The only light was coming from behind him, the lights in the sleeve of the dropship. 

He took the first steps into the deserted hangar. Every nerve tingled as he looked around. A sound came behind him, and something touched his shoulder. He whipped around bringing his Impaler into line. All he saw was Mouse in his SCV. Stranix had almost forgotten that Mouse would have entered the hangar through the hole he cut before the sleeve of the dropship attached. 

"Jeeze Stranix, what did I scare you?" Mouse asked. 

"Just a little edgy, this ship is creepy." Stranix replied as the rest of the squad entered the hangar one by one. Once everyone was assembled, Stranix said, "Lights." Everyone flipped a switch, accept for the two ghosts. And shoulder mounted floodlights came up on all of the armor. 

"This place is totally deserted." Duke said. 

"No kidding, no sounds of a normal ship. No air filters, no reactor noises, just emptiness." Butch said. 

"All right, we have a job to do." Stranix reminded everyone. "We're going to break up into pairs, and search the ship deck by deck. Mouse your with me. We'll make our way to the bridge and see what we can do there. Butch your with Reindhardt, E-man, your with Duke. Speals will go with Billy. And Randal will acompany them because of the odd number. I don't want anyone alone on this ship, at any time. Everyone will call each floor as they clear it. Radio in anything out of the ordinary. I don't care what it is, if it's not normal, you call it in. And no matter how soon the last time you radioed in was, you check in in five minute intervals. Is that clear?" 

"Right on!" Butch said. 

"Lets get this done, fast, but we do it well." Stranix said. "All right, split up, watch your backs, and be careful." Stranix said. 

"We will." Duke said.

"We'll try to make you proud." Reindhardt said. 

Stranix and Mouse took the corridor just on the right once you exited the main hangar. Since there was no power in the whole ship, every door had to be opened by manual override. Then they came to another problem. The ship had multiple levels, but with no power, the turbo lifts didn't work. 

"I guess we'll have to climb up manually." Mouse said, as he and Stranix came to the elevator to the bridge level. 

"I guess we climb." Stranix said. 

Mouse moved forward, and opened the lift panel with his gripper. Then he activated the manual override, and Stranix was able to pry the doors open. The lift was on their floor. Stranix walked in first. He looked up, shining his light up the rest of the shaft. It was clear. So he let his Impaler hang from the built in strap, and began to climb the maintenance ladder. It was hard work. Mouse had it easy, all he had to do was turn his propulsion jets down, and he floated up next to Stranix. 

After several minutes, they made it up to the bridge level. The squad had radioed in twice. Each time they reported nothing out of the ordinary. 

Stranix pried the doors open, and they got out on the bridge level. From the lift to the bridge was a short hike. They made it before the next call in. 

The bridge was a normal battlecruiser bridge. A raised command walkway allowed the captain to see what was on the screens in the crew pit below. The large forward viewport was opaque. 

"Mouse, access the computer, see what you can dig up. See if you can't locate the ships log." Stranix said.

"I don't know how good that'll be with no power." Mouse said.

"I know but we have to try." Stranix replied. Mouse moved over to the main computer on the end of the command walkway. He punched the manual turn on switch. Normally these computers didn't get shut off, ever, but with the power failure they would have been shut off. The capacitors inside the computer had enough of a charge to make the holo display flicker, but it went dead in about a second. 

"Now this is where I work my magic." Mouse said. He opened the storage compartment at the base of his SCV. He pulled out a black cubic shape with two wires, one red, and the other black sticking off of it. He set the box down in front of the computer, and opened the side panel. He hooked up the wires on the box, and hit a switch. The generator put enough power into the computer to get it running. 

"I'm going to have to run on the flat screens to conserve power, but I think I can get the reactor working again." Mouse said. 

"Good, keep working, I'm going to check out the crew pit." Stranix said. 

"Roger that." Mouse said, already busy in his work. Stranix walked to the edge of the walkway, bent his knees, with a slight whirring from the servos, and dropped into the crew pit. It was empty, and dark. He flashed his lights around, checking every corner. There wasn't even a chip on the consoles, or a scuff on the floor. The captain was either a major clean freak, or something weird had happened here. 

"Sir, Butch here." Came the voice over the radio. 

"Go Butch."

"I found the tiniest spot of dried blood." 

"Good work, where is it?" Stranix asked. 

"In a berth on C deck."

"Have you checked the rest of the berths?" Stranix asked.

"Not yet." Butch replied.

"Check them out and report when your done." 

"Roger that, Butch out." 

Stranix walked over to the end of the crew pit, and took the ramp up to the command walkway. 

"And this is where you all bow down and say Mouse is the greatest." Mouse said. He hit one button on the keyboard, and the whole ship rumbled. It shook violently for about a second, then it stopped and a low, deep rumbling penetrated the whole ship. Lights came to life all over the bridge. 

"Sir?" Came the confused message from Duke.

"What the fuck was that?" Reindhardt asked. 

"Not to worry men, Mouse just turned the reactor back on. That was the rumble you felt."

"Roger that." Randal said. 

"Mouse, do a systems check." Stranix ordered. 

"Three steps ahead of you boss." Mouse said. "Communications are shot, scanners are shot, guns are shot, internal lights, are on." He pushed a button, and lights sprang to life all over the ship. "Viewport is opening." The opaque shield over the viewport slid back revealing stars. "And that's about all I can get out of the old girl."

"How about the captains log?" Stranix asked.

"I got it up here." An image began scrolling across the holo screen. It was a scrolling list of dates and names. 

"We can't download that directly to the Arrogance, but first save it to disk, then we'll look at the bottom few entries." Stranix said. 

"Roger that." Mouse said. Stranix walked over to look at the holographic readout, when a scream came over the radio, and a burst of rifle fire echoed through the ship. 

* * * *

Butch and Reindhardt, after finding the blood in the berthing compartment, proceeded to check the rest of that floor. 

"This place creeps me out big time." Reindhardt said as they opened another berth, and found it empty. It was completly, and totally empty. No sheets on the bed, no pictures on the wall, no cloths in the closet. Nothing. It was just two sections of bulkhead that jutted out, and were bare, cold metal. 

"No shit," Butch said. "It's like this ship was cleaned out of everything. It's spooky." 

"Definatly." Reindhardt said. The pair closed the door to the berth, and walked to the adjacent one. They opened this one as well. It was like the last one. Completely bare of everything. 

"The sooner we get off this wreck, the better." Butch said as they moved on to the next berth. This particular berthing compartment was one long hallway with nothing but doors to identical berthing compartments. The tiny sleeping quarters for the grunts. Marines, and gunners stationed on the battlecruiser. 

The pair opened the last berth on that side of the hallway. This one also had a spot of dried blood, about the size of a cred coin. 

"Look more blood." Butch pointed out.

"Yep, looks like it." Reindhardt said. "Better call it in."

Reindhardt activated his radio, but it happened too quick for him to say anything. A figure materialized behind him suddenly, almost as if it appeared. It towered over even Butch, and was in the shape of a serpent with two vicious claws sticking off of two arms, as it slithered erect, with a large bone encrusted head. It was a Zerg hydralisk. 

"Oh shit!" Reindhardt screamed. As the massive creature reared back, and prepared to cut him in pieces with its razor sharp claws. But Butch was too quick for it. He spun around, and let off a burst of his 'impailer'. The burst of shells knocked the hydralisk back into the bulkhead. 

The injured creature opened it's mouth to spit one of it's deadly, poisonous spines, aiming right at Reindhardt. But Reindhardt had recovered from the shock of the creatures sudden appearance. He spun around to face it, dropped to one knee as the hydralisk spat it's spine out. The spine stabbed into the bulkhead behind him, but did no damage. He aimed, and pulled the trigger on his canister rifle. The armor penetrating shell hit the creature right between it's eyes, cracking it's skull easily. Blood sprayed out of the fist sized hole, and the creature fell face first into the deck. 

"Holy shit, where the hell did he come from?" Reindhardt yelled. 

"I have no idea but our problems are just beginning." Butch said, pointing down the corridor. From where he pointed, hundreds of little clawed feet were scraping against the metal floor as tons of zerglings came running towards them. 

* * * *

Stranix was incredibly worried. He was still on the bridge, but he was ready to dash out any minute. 

"Some one talk to me, I heard gun fire, what the hell is happening, talk to me people!" He yelled into the radio. 

"E-man here, situation normal, wasn't us who fired, sounded like it came above us, standing by for orders." Came the reply.

"Billy here, heard it as well, what do we do boss?" Billy said.

"This is Butch, we are under massive zergling attack, we're bugging out, no way we can take em all on." 

"Zerg here, what the hell is going on?" Stranix wondered aloud. "Everyone get your asses out! I repeat haul ass to the main hangar. Get moving." Stranix yelled. "Butch, I'm coming to back you up, hold on!"

Stranix ran out of the bridge, sprinting as fast as his armor would allow.

"Mouse follow me, no one is gonna be alone on this ship!" Stranix yelled as he sprinted away.

"Roger that." Mouse said, as he followed Stranix.

Butch and Reindhardt ran as fast as they could away from the advancing zerglings. There was no way they could out run the creatures, even if they both didn't have any armor on, the zerglings would still be faster. So if you add in the armor, the zerglings would overtake them very quickly. The only reason that the pair wasn't dead was that unlike hydralisks, the zerglings have no projectiles. So they had to be close to their enemy to attack with their claws and fangs. And the marine and ghost made use of that. Firing and killing many zerglings as they ran. 

They pounded down the corridor. Butch turning sideways and firing a burst into the swarming crowd of little creatures every couple of steps. Each time he cut down one, the others had to climb over it, or go around it. So it delayed them. And that was just enough for them to be able to keep ahead of the zerglings. 

Stranix suddenly appeared out of a corridor in front of them. He stopped, and laid down a barrage of shells. Letting his gauss rifle go full auto. It was devastating to the advancing zerglings. His shells slammed into them, tearing limbs off, penetrating their armored heads, sheering off claws, and breaking bones. 

"Go go go!" He yelled. As Butch and Reindhardt came level with him, he too turned and ran. After three more corridor passes, the rest of the team came out from two different corridors, on either side of the hall. When the rest of the squad opened fire, the zerglings were routed, and they ran off, with their tails between their legs. The onslaught of the devastating shells, and when a few came close enough, fire from E-man's flame-throwers, they were all killed, or they fled. 

"No time for celebrating, this whole ship is one big Zerg nest. We gotta get out of here now!" Stranix yelled. 

"And this battle is far from over look!" Speals yelled. The slower, but still fast hydralisks came slithering into view in the corridor. There had to be hundreds of them, and with more firepower on their side, the zerglings began their chase again. The fast little terrors outpaced the monstrous hydralisks. But that made an even deadlier threat. The zerglings were closing fast, and they were so small, running on all fours that the massive hydralisks could fire their spines over the zerglings. 

The squad ran flat out away from the deadly creatures. They were nearing the main hangar door, when two very bad things happened. First the lights suddenly went out. Plunging them into momentary darkness, as they switched their lights back on. Then Duke caught a spine in the back of the knee. He fell to the ground with a metallic smack. The spine not only penetrated the weak back of his armor, and hit his knee. But it also jammed the servos, and gears in the knee joint. So he couldn't move his knee if he wanted to.

Stranix grabbed Speals by the arm. "We don't leave our people behind!" Stranix yelled, turning to face the oncoming swarm. He and the rest of the squad went full auto. All accept E-man. He reached down behind him, to the storage case in the back of his armor. He came out with two large bottles.

"Let me introduce you to my friend, Mr. Maltop cocktail!" He yelled, twirling the two bottles, even with his large cumbersome armored fingers. He stopped the bottles in his hand, and fired a little puff of flame from each of his wrist mounted flame-throwers. That got the fuse on each bottle burning. Then he hurled them. First one, then the other. When the glass broke, and the gas hit the flame on the rag, there was a wall of fire created. It incinerated tons of zerglings, and blocked the progress of the others.

"Get Duke!" Stranix yelled. Reindhardt and Speals ran up and grabbed him under the arms, hauling the marine to his feet, and dragging him away from the wall of flames, and towards the main hangar. The door leading to the main hangar was just about one-hundred feet away. 

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." Billy said, pointing towards the wall of flames. The zerglings had crawled up the wall, and were now running along the ceiling, and the walls. Totally defying gravity. Their claws dug into the solid metal of the ship like it was living flesh. But when they passed, there wasn't a scratch on the surface. 

"Waste them!" Stranix yelled, firing a burst that sent one of the zerglings tumbling to the ground. The two firebats began hurling tons of fire towards the oncoming zerglings. The streams roasted the creatures, and a heavy stench of burnt flesh penetrated the filters on their suits. 

Then once again, the unexpected happened. This time it was even more amazing. A hydralist came up out of the solid metal of the ship's floor. When the hydralisk had appeared behind Butch, they didn't see where it came from, and hydras are known for lurking in shadows. But this time, half the squad saw it suddenly rise from solid armor grade titanium. 

The hydralisk reared back, and prepared to take a swing at Stranix, for it had appeared directly behind him. It arched it's claws back, and moved it's muscular arm as it began it's fatal chop, aimed at Stranix's neck. Butch dove at the hydra, and knocked it backwards slightly. Butch was incredibly strong, hence the nick name Butch. But the hydra was much stronger, and only rocked back slightly. But another of Butch's qualities. He is persistent as hell. When he hit the hydra, it must have been like hitting a brick wall. But he wrapped his arms around it, and pulled it with him when he rolled. He managed to get it on the ground. Which was a hard feat, because the hydra had one long serpentine tail as it's legs, and it could be positioned for maximum stability.

"Shoot that son of a bitch!" Butch yelled as he rolled away from the downed hydra. Speals turned, and fired a burst that caught the hydra in the chest, drilling strait through it. The creature went limp.

"Lets go, we gotta move now!" Stranix yelled, pulling Butch to his feet. They began to run as fast as they could. Speals and Randal were looking backwards, and firing at the wave of zerglings that was still coming over the wall of fire via the walls and ceiling. 

Another hydra came up out of the solid floor, directly in front of Butch and Stranix. Stranix fired a burst that sent the beast sprawling. Billy sent a jet of flame at it as he passed, to make sure it was dead. 

The zerglings behind them were still coming. There was no stopping them. For every one that was shot and killed, three took it's place. And now hydralisks were appearing all over the place. 

One ended up right in front of E-man. It was on the ground in a burning heap of charred flesh before it could raise one of it's claws. Then another appeared next to Reindhardt. He stuck his canister rifle up to it's chest, or where the chest is on a serpentine creature, and pulled the trigger, sending it's guts out through a large hole in it's back. It was thrown violently back against the wall, then slumped into a lifeless heap. 

The main hangar door was only fifty feet away. And the corridor was joined by two others, one on each side. And low and behold, out of those, poured even more zerglings. There wasn't as many zerglings coming out of the side corridors as the ones chasing them, but there was enough to overwhelm them quickly if ever given the chance.

Stranix and Butch were leading the retreat. So they would be the first two effected by this new onslaught. They were prepared however.

"More coming in from the front!" Stranix announced into the radio. He began firing full auto, not caring about how much ammo he wasted. He just wanted to kill the zerglings that were coming in from the side. Butch opened up on the ones coming from the opposite corridor, but both of them kept running as fast as they could. 

When the pair drew level with the joining corridors, they both stopped, and began firing down the corridor, stopping the Zerg onslaught before they reached the entrance. 

"E-man take his place at that entrance." Stranix ordered.

"No way man, I don't back down from a fight, we stand together." Butch protested. As he fired down the corridor.

"Think, your the only one who can open the door with the generator off. We'll buy you as much time as we can, get your ass moving, that's an order!" Stranix yelled between bursts.

"Roger that sir, I expect to see you alive and well, no heroics, heroes end up dead." Butch said as he moved off towards the main hangar. E-man took his place, spewing twin streams of fire, and roasting the zerglings that were coming in from there. 

Stranix and E-man held the side corridors, and Speals and Randal held off the zerglings coming in from behind. Reindhardt and Speals dragged the immobilized Duke. Speals firing backwards with one hand. 

When everyone had passed them, E-man and Stranix turned and began running down the corridor again, firing as they went. They were now the last people, and had double the zerglings to take care of. But the position of E-man's weapons made it hard for him to fire backwards while running. Also he had a limited range. 

"Go as fast as you can, don't slow down, I'll handle these fuckers!" Stranix yelled. 

"You can't handle all of them by yourself!" E-man protested.

"That's an order!" Stranix yelled back. E-man stopped sending jets of flame behind him, and ran flat out towards the door. Butch had it open. 

Stranix was incredibly tired, but he pushed himself harder. He was still firing behind him, but he was concentrating on running. His fire was nothing to the swarming mass of claws, fangs, and hideous creatures that were chasing him. 

He neared the door. It seemed to take forever. It was getting closer and closer, but so were the zerglings behind him. He could begin to see them out of the corner of his eye. And one was just next to his left leg. He put his gun on top of it's head, and pulled the trigger. But he didn't have time to kill anymore. 

"Start to close the door!" He yelled. Butch began to heave at the door, starting the closing process. Stranix got close enough, and took a flying leap. He went through the door, and landed on the other side. Butch slammed it in the faces of the zerglings.

"Sir, I have some weird activity going on in the ship." A technician on Arrogance said to captain Greer. 

"Such as?" Greer asked.

"Well a few minutes ago, I began detecting reactor noises from the Vindicator. But no heat other than Stranix's unit was detected. I could follow the eleven signals easily enough. The ship was cold from sitting in space so long." The technician replied.

"So they got the reactor working, no big deal." Greer said.

"But then, I heard a spike of sounds, identified as Gauss rifle fire." She said, and this happened. She hit a button on the console, and an image of the ships heat display came up. The entire ship was registering with life signs. As if the whole ship was alive. 

"Good God!" Greer yelled.

"Sir!" Yelled a different technician. "Energy spike detected from the bow of the ship!"

"Confirm!" Greer yelled.

"It's confirmed, they're firing their Yamato cannon!" A third technician said.

"Helm, go to evasive maneuvers, get all crews to battle positions!" Greer yelled. "Bring all port side engines up to one-hundred percent capacity. Then bleed energy from the heating systems, into the starboard side engines, and get them up to two-hundred percent capacity, do it and do it fast!" 

"But sir, that will damage the port side engines." Protested the technician.

"Goddamn it we can survive with some damaged engines, now follow my orders or we'll all die!" Barked Greer. "I know what my ship is capable of, if I want you opinion I'll ask for it. Now do it or we'll all die because of you!"

With the engines coming up at full capacity the ship would begin to move forward rapidly, for such a large vessel. Then it would be heading downward with the evasive action, and with the starboard side engines at two-hundred percent power, it would turn the ship. 

The Yamato cannon on the Vindicator charged, after about ten seconds. Then the firing coil charged that took about five. The energy was transferred from the storage capacitors to the firing coil in less than a second, and the deadly beam of massive amounts of energy shot out at the Arrogance. The beam passed over the ship by mere feet, and with a ship that massive, that was cutting it close. The entire ship was rocked with the shock wave of the blast. Everyone on the bridge was knocked to the ground. After a few second of confusion, the female technician from before managed to get to her console, and yell out.

"We have scourge and Mutalisks incoming!" 

"Damn."

* * * *

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The main hangar door rocked under the impacts of the zerglings bony heads. They slammed into it repeatedly, and there was the scraping of their sharp claws against the armor grade titanium. 

"That door won't hold much longer." Butch said. 

"No shit, lets go, back to the dropship, double time." Stranix said. They began running across the wide hangar towards the waiting drop ship, just as a hole began to open up in the hangar door. Stranix was again bringing up the rear. The hangar was large, and it took them a while to cross it because they were all tired from their last run. And once the hole formed in the hangar door, it widened very quickly. With in seconds it was big enough for a particularly small and fast zergling to enter the hangar. It raced across the hangar, closing the space it took the men about twenty seconds to cross in seven. 

When Stranix heard the claws on the metal floor, he turned, but he was already too late. He saw the zegling as it leaped into the air. He tried to bring his gun into line, but one of the creatures razor sharp claws bit into it, and knocked it aside. When it hit the floor, it broke into two, because the claw had sheered it almost in half, and the impact broke it. 

The claws bit deep into Stranix' armor, and he was knocked on the ground. The creature snapped its fanged mouth, and dug it's claws even deeper into Stranix' armor. 

The left one penetrated, and made a deep cut down Stranix' side. And none of his fleeing troops noticed he was down. He stopped struggling with the beast, he knew he would never win. The creature was too well armored, and it's claws too sharp. He reached into the storage container at the small of his back, and pulled out a hand held 'impaler.' He stuck the gigantic pistol under the beast's chin, and pulled the trigger. The bullet turned the zergling's brains to mush, that exploded out the back of it's head in a red cloud. 

He shoved the creature off of him, it left blood all over his armor. And scrambled to his feet. Other zerglings were coming in through the hole, and making new holes. And the door was about to break way from the force of their pounding. 

Stranix' shot had attracted the attention of his men. They turned around.

"What are you waiting for, the show is over, get in the ship lets go!" Stranix yelled. 

"Yes sir!" They yelled back. Mouse grabbed Duke, and carried him in his arms made to carry large bits of minerals, pieces of buildings, or space salvage. Stranix turned as he got inline to file single file in through the sleeve, and fired round after round at the incoming zerglings. They dropped like stones. Finally Stranix was in the sleeve. He as the last one aboard. He flipped the lever closing the vacuum seal. 

"Detach and get us the hell out of here Tanner!" Stranix yelled, as he made his way up the sleeve.

"Roger that." Tanner yelled. He began to retract the sleeve. Once the sleeve was locked in place, and everyone was secure in their harnesses, Tanner moved away from the ship. 

"Get us back to the Arrogance!" Stranix yelled.

"I'm reading mutalisks and scourge in this sector." Tanner yelled back. "Billy, go to the rear viewport, and check it out.

"Right." Billy said. He walked to the back viewport, and hit the button next to it. He sat down and strapped himself in, so the bumpy ride wouldn't throw him to the ground. As he was strapping in, the rear viewport went from opaque to transparent. 

"We got a scourge on our tail, he's coming in high and to the right." Tanner said. Scourge are high speed seeking missiles. They slam into ships, and detonate on impact in a cloud of highly corrosive natural acids, and explosives. It only takes one to cripple a fighter, or dropship, and a few can kill a battlecruiser. Depending on where they hit it. 

Tanner was flying the ship on a strait course, as fast as he could heading for the Arrogance. He kept a firm hand on the stick. A dropship wasn't as maneuverable as a Wraith, but it was a pretty nimble ship. 

"Keep tabs on that scourge!" Tanner said over the radio. 

"He's gaining, still coming in high right." Billy replied.

"Come on come on." Tanner mumbled to himself as he watched the back thermal readout. He couldn't see as clearly as through the back viewport. He flipped it over to sensors. He could scan for ships and life forms alike, and their positions were reported to him. But it wasn't accurate in the field of showing changes in speed, and altitude. So having a spotter in the back was much easier.

"He's getting closer and closer and closer!" Billy yelled. "Punch it!" Tanner rammed the joystick down violently. He moved the ship down and to the right, hoping the scourge would overshoot. It worked, the small winged terror passed right by the front of the dropship. Tanner straitened out the ship, and resumed his course for the Arrogance. 

The scourge did an impossibly tight turn, and came back towards them. It was heading strait for them, head on. Tanner kept flying strait towards it. He was ready to dive the ship at the last moment. He stared into the eyeless face of the scourge, trying to guess it's next moves. When it got so close that he could begin to see individual teeth in it's circular mouth, he jerked the stick up, then down much harder. He was hoping that once the scourge sensed the ship start to go up, it would move that way and over shoot again. It didn't. It came directly on towards the back part of the ship. It would hit the engine pod, the acid would eat through the outer shell, and the explosion would ignite the fuel. In less than a second everyone would be reduced to an expanding ball of gas. 

There was nothing he could do, he closed his eyes and braced for the inferno. He heard the explosion of the scourge, and felt the whole ship shake, and rumble.

"What about those scourge?" Captain Greer asked. 

"They are outrunning the mutalisks on approach to us. They will be in optimum firing range for our batteries in two seconds. The mutalisks will be able to fire at us in six seconds." Said the female technician from before. She was bleeding profusely from the combination of a bump and cut on her forehead just above her left eye. When the ship was hit by the shockwave from the Yamato cannon, she hit her head on the corner of her station. The bump was quickly swelling, and it would soon force her eye shut. And there was blood practically flowing down the side of her head, and then into her eye. So she was a real mess, but still she held her station. Her name was Terry.

"Guns, concentrate on the scourge, ignore the mutas until all the scourge are dead. We can handle a few shots from the mutas, but not a few hits from the scourge."

"Roger that." The gunnery technician said.

"Sir what are we going to do about the Vindicator?" Commander Anderson asked. He was commander of the fighter wings assigned to the ship.

"We're going to pick up Stranix' dropship, and get the hell out of here that's what." Greer said. "Did you see how fast that Yamato cannon charged up. They can fire that thing five times in five minutes. At least. We detected no energy in it when we arrived, and then it charged rapidly, no way we can win this fight. And where the hell did these Zerg come from? This area was clean when we came in. There aren't any other ships here, where did they come from?" 

"Shall I launch the fighter wings as a screen?" Commander Anderson asked.

"No it will take too long to pick them up again, and we will get slaughtered." Greer said. 

Red bolts of energy were coming out of the laser batteries all over the ship. Where ever they struck a scourge they vaporized it on impact. Soon there weren't any scourge left.

"Helm, take us seven degrees to port, begin an evasive role downwards after you come parallel to the advancing mutalisks." 

"Roger that sir." Said the helmsman. The ship began to turn, presenting it's broader sides to the oncoming mutalisks. This way they could bring more of their guns to bear on the incoming creatures. 

The space between the incoming deep space creatures, and the gigantic battle ship sizzled with energy as the starboard side guns opened fire. The Mutalisks were killed quickly. Not much could survive a full broad side from a battlecruiser. 

"Sir I see two Wraiths and a dropship incoming." Terry said.

"Good, Stranix is on his way." 

* * * *

The inferno would have to wait however. Tanner opened his eyes and saw the remnants of the explosion behind the dropship on the rear scanners. And he also saw two Wraiths fly over the dropship.

"Sorry to worry you." Came the voice of Ace over the radio. "That scourge was awful close to you. My missiles almost hit you instead."

"Glad to have you flying cover." Tanner said in response. 

"Lets get the hell out of this place." 

The fighters began to fly circles around the dropship, for they were much faster than the bulkier dropship. 

"Arrogance this is Wraith one, two, and Dropship one, we are coming in and are coming in hot. It would be much easier, let alone faster for us if you would execute a roll to port to bring the belly hold up to us." Ace said over the radio.

"Roger that, executing roll now." Came the reply of a bridge technician. The massive ship rolled to allow the three ships access to the belly hold through the underside door. 

The door opened, and they sailed in one after the other.

"All ships in, close the doors and lets get the hell out of here!" Stranix spoke over the radio to the bridge.

"Acknowledged." Came the reply. 


	2. Boarding Party

2. Boarding Party

Stranix arrived on the bridge of the Arrogance, Captain Greer was waiting. It was two months after Stranix and his team boarded the Vindicator. Starting immediately after the Arrogance left the system, the other ship began a campaign of destruction. It attacked several border worlds and laid waste to them literally in minutes. All opposing forces, even detachments of Battlecruisers and defense stations were destroyed with out even a chance to defend themselves. 

"We have received a coded message from fleet command." Captain Greer said. "Lieutenant, bring up the play back." The communications officer hit a button, and a holographic projection of Admiral Tirmirav, commander of the Terran fleet, was shown. 

"Greg," started the image of the admiral, using Captain Greer's first name, "we have received a communication from the Protoss about that ship, and it's campaign of destruction. As always, their warrior tradition and ego have complicated diplomacy. They insist that they can take care of the problem, and despite our best efforts to convince them of the seriousness of this problem, they have dispatched their entire fleet to sector seven. The ship was sighted there by a Protoss observer less than an hour ago. Even the entire Protoss fleet cannot take on that ship by itself. So I am rallying the entire fleet to sector five. From there you will assume command of the fleet, and take it to sector seven. If all goes well, you should arrive about a half hour after the Protoss fleet. Hopefully they have not been destroyed by then. This mission is crucial, and there is no one I trust more. You have much to do, so I will bid you farewell and good luck." The projection died, and Greer turned to Stranix.

"We have no choice but to prepare for immediate departure. I want all crews on full alert, including yours. We don't know what will be going on when we arrive in sector seven. There is a colony of separatists that moved out to a planet in sector seven after Mengsk took command. That may have been the target of the ship, and this could possibley turn into a land battle, or raking the ruins of the settlement. Either way, I want you to command the ground forces."

"Consider it done." Stranix replied. "I'll report back to my men right away."

"Right." Captain Greer said. "Lieutenant, sound the general alarm. All crews on alert status." 

"Roger that sir." Spoke the communications technician. 

"Helm, plot a course to sector five, all speed."

"Roger that sir." The helmsman spoke.

* * * *

"Sir, five minutes until we enter sector seven." Spoke the navigator. 

"All crews to battle stations." Captain Greer said. After meeting with the assembled fleet in sector five, the ships proceeded immediately to sector seven. There was no time to waste. Even with the entire Protoss fleet arrayed against it, that ship could make a short victory out of the engagement. 

Reports from what few survivors there were from an attack by the ship, said that it took all the punishment of a full broad side from a battlecruiser without even slowing down. And they always told of Zerg units appearing out of no where. 

With a bright flash, the Arrogance dropped into real space. Before it stood a single planet heated by the local star. The planet was a harsh ice world, and was never officially named. It only had a number designation. There were no signs of space battle, yet. 

"Locate the Protoss fleet." Captain Greer said. 

"There sir." Said a technician, pointing to a spot out the viewport. There was no mistaking it. No less than eighteen Protoss Carriers were visible, with several other ships in support. Everything from heavy cruisers to shuttles and scouts. 

"Now locate that ship." 

"Point oh five, sector twenty-nine ex." Said the technician. Captain Greer brought it up. The ship sat hovering in space, seemingly alone. The Protoss fleet was heading towards it at flank speed. 

"Full speed ahead, this battle could yet be over before we get there!" Captain Greer said. 

"Roger that sir!" 

With an amazing flash of light, the battle began. All the Protoss carriers launched their robot interceptors. The small droid fighters sped towards the ship, and began their relentless barrage. The cruisers opened up with their laser batteries, and the scouts let off a barrage of missiles. 

This barrage would be enough to tear chunks out of a planet. However the ship was unaffected. With a flash of light, it's Yamato cannon lashed out, striking the lead Carrier. It's shields held for a nanosecond, then collapsed, and the beam of energy struck the ship on it's armored bow. 

Bulkheads were vaporized, and armor buckled. The entire front half of the ship was either crippled or destroyed, and fires burnt unchecked in the parts of the ship not venting atmosphere into outer space. The ship began a slow descent towards the planet, getting pulled by it's gravity. With no engines active, there was no way to save it. 

"Full speed!" Screamed Captain Greer. "Now!"

"Sir I'm detecting a new set of signals on the far side of the Vindicator." Said the sensor technician.

"What are they?" Asked Captain Greer.

"Definitely organic, I would say a very large force of various Zerg space units." Said the technician.

"Launch all fighters! Guns, fire at will, concentrate on any Scourge you see!"

"Roger that sir!" Came the simultaneous reply of two officers. 

"Sensors, how long until we are in optimum Yamato cannon range?" Asked Greer.

"Two minutes sir." Replied the technician. 

"This might be over in two minutes. Instruct all other ships not to fire their Yamato cannon until I give the word."

"Roger that sir." Replied the communications technician.

The Protoss fleet was now readily engaged as it's interceptors veered away from bombing the Vindicator and fighting with the Scourge and Mutalisks that had suddenly appeared in space. 

Everywhere Scouts battled it out with the Mutas, dodged Scourge, or in some cases didn't dodge them. The droid interceptors were more lucky as the Scourge and Mutalists targeted the Carriers instead. With out a Carrier controlling it, an interceptor would just fly strait, not shooting. 

The Vindicator fired it's Yamato cannon yet again, and another Carrier exploded entirely as it's shields were weakened enough that the blast ruptured it's main reactor. The battle was going poorly for the Protoss. Their ships were being shot down left and right. 

* * * *

"One flight form up on me, we're gonna throw a missile barrage at that ship." Ace said as soon as he got clear of Arrogance's belly hold. Not being a ground soldier, he was put in charge of a fighter wing, and sent out into the battle immediately, along with Michalels. 

His flight of six Wraiths moved into formation, and they flew strait and true towards the Vindicator. He acquired a target lock, which wasn't hard with the massive ship. 

"Missiles away!" He yelled over the radio as he hit his trigger. The flight of twelve missiles flew on to impact the ship, but no visible damage appeared. 

"Incoming Scourge!" Shouted a pilot.

"Split by pairs and engage at will." Ace said, throwing his fighter into a dive. His wingman Jiles, tucked in behind him, mimicking the maneuver. He swung around onto the tail of a Scourge. "Lead has this one." 

"Roger that, covering your ass." Jiles responded. Ace centered the Scourge in his cross hairs, and tightened up on the trigger, sending a direct burst of laser right up it's ass. It exploded into a cloud of corrosive gas which quickly condensed and froze. Ace swung his Wraith around the ice block, and headed back towards the engagement.

* * * *

"Sir, we are in optimum Yamato cannon range now." Said the sensors technician. 

"Tell all ships to get a lock on that ship, and prepare to fire on my command." Greer said.

"Roger that sir." Said the communications officer. After a moment he replied, "they are awaiting your order sir." 

"Fire!" Greer screamed. Twelve Battlecruisers opened fire within two seconds of each other. A blast like that would have been sufficient to kill the population of an entire city. However only two of the shots made it to the ship. Appearing out of no where, a massive group of hundreds of Mutalisks shot upwards and absorbed the energy of the massive attack. 

"Did you see that? It protected itself with the Mutas, it can be killed." Greer said after recovering from his astonishment. "Inform all ships to engage that ship at point blank range, and concentrate as much fire as they can on it, without allowing Scourge to penetrate." 

"Yes sir."

The twelve Battlecruisers rushed in as fast as they could go. Other smaller Frigates, and Corvettes could have gone in faster, but chose to stay near the Battlecruisers. What remained of the Protoss fleet followed Greer's example, heading in as close as the could. 

The battle got insanely brutal. With all the capital ships and fighters engaged so closely around one ship the risk of a collision was very imminent. 

"Helm take us down twenty degrees, and begin a defensive roll to port." Greer said.

"Roger that sir." While rolling, the ship could have two thirds of it's guns on the enemy ship at all times. With the laser batteries focusing on the ship, several Mutalisks made a strafing run. The Arrogance rocked under repeated impacts. Then a very large explosion made everyone on the bridge fall down.

"Report!" Greer screamed as he regained his feet. 

"Scourge hit in the back quarters, engines at fifty-nine percent and dropping rapidly.

Greer watched in horror as the Vindicator opened fire with it's Yamato cannon at point black range. The Battlecruiser it struck had absolutely no chance. Even if it wasn't damaged at all, nothing could have survived getting hit by the Yamato cannon at such close range. The resulting explosion sent shrapnel flying to pelt the surrounding ships. Several fighters went down from impacting the shrapnel, and the two Battlecruisers flanking the destroyed one were heavily damaged from the explosion and shock wave. 

"Sir, we won't be able to take this punishment much longer." Spoke the female technician named Terry. 

A very very radical, outrageous, and insanely crazy idea struck Greer. "Send a message to the entire fleet, tell them to launch every SCV they have with orders to assault the Vindicator."

"Assault it?" Asked a confused Terry.

"Yes, tell them to use their cutters to rip apart the bulkheads, and then we send Stranus and every other person who can carry a gun onto that ship in an attempt to destroy the source. Relay a message to the Protross telling them our plan, and ask for any help they can give."

"Roger that sir." She replied. "This actually could work."

"It'll work, or we'll die." 

* * * *

Mouse was the first SCV to leave the Arrogance. All around him Wraiths, Interceptors and Scouts zoomed around, battling it out with Scourge and Mutalisks.   


The capital ships had directed all their fire towards the enemy fighters, ignoring the Vindicator to give mouse and his fellow SVC's as much cover as possible. 

They swarmed out, hundreds of them. Each ship carried plenty of them. The SCV's on the twelve battle cruisers alone could have taken out a small Protoss camp. 

They swarmed across the open expanse of space, and latched onto the door of the main belly hold. However they did not make it without sacrifice. No less than seven of them were shot down by Mutalisks, then twelve more were taken out as they latched onto the hull. 

Still, there was a large number of them attacking the hangar door, and large sections of it were torn away in seconds because of the many fusion cutters assaulting it. 

Hundreds of Protoss probes suddenly erupted from the Protoss fleet. Half of them carried a Zealot in their grippers. They too sailed towards the Vindicator, and began to assault the bridge. The probes used their psionic powers used in cutting minerals to start to slice through the bridge viewport. The Zealots anchored themselves to the bridge with one psionic blade, and hacked and slashed with the other. 

A fleet of dropships erupted from the Battlecruisers. Not waiting to check to see if the door had been cut fully away, they rocketed forward at full speed to avoid the enemy units. 

"Form up into a line, the main hold can only carry so many dropships at a time, everyone drop your load, and get out of there fast. Be on stand by in case we hit trouble, but get clear of the enemy units." Stranix spoke into the radio. A series of acknowledgments came back. 

As always, his dropship was the lead one. It would be the first one into the hold, and probably take the most casualties, if there were Zerg in the hold. And seeing how they seemed to be formed from the ship itself, he was betting they were going to be there. 

His ship burned full on into the hold and slammed down into a messy, rough, but survivable landing, it's landing claws sliding on the smooth metal of the floor. Zerg units were squashed flat as the ship slid across them. It finally slid to a halt at the back of the hold, and the doors opened. 

Immediately Stranix and his men were on their feet. In his life, Stranix had always been first into every thing. Nothing had changed. He was the first marine to charge down the exit ramp towards the mass of Zerg units waiting in the hold.

Hydralisk spines slammed into the sides of the dropship, ripping jagged holes in it.

Stranix and the other men charging down the ramp went full auto, shredding flesh and bone alike. Two firebats began their descent down the ramp, and began spewing fire off to each side. The smell of charred flesh rose fast and strong, overpowering the filters in their armor. 

Coming in right behind Stranix's dropship was another one. This one dropped it's door, and out lumbered a unit of Goliaths. The massive combat suits wouldn't be much use in the packed corridors of the ship, but they would be damn useful in clearing the hangar packed to the brim with Zerg. 

As they charged down the ramp, they blazed away with their twin 30mm autocannons. The shells tore into the mass of Zerg, ripping bone apart like it was paper. 

Stranix and his men charged into the heart of the hangar, hoping to clear it for more dropships. Everyone was going full auto for there was a multitude of targets. The Zerg were absolutely shredded by the onslaught. The taller Hydralisks fell prey to the marines first, for they were easily visible above the mass of bodies, teeth, claws, and fangs. 

Over half of Stranix's men fell before the second dropship of marines arrived. The floor of the hangar was stained with blood, and littered with body parts and spent casings.

"Fuck this shit!" Stranix screamed as the marine next to him fell with a spine sticking out of his face. 

He moved his hand down to the secondary trigger on his rifle, and fired the grenade launcher built into the bottom. He pumped and fired, pumped and fired, pumped and fired, as fast as he could. The grenades landed on the deck, exploding brilliantly, and tracing a trail of fire across one whole side of the hangar. The Zerg hissed and screamed at the explosive force of the grenades. They began to fall back.

"Don't skimp on the grenades men!" Stranix screamed. "We have to clear this hangar for the other units!" The other men began to follow Stranix's example and launch their grenades. 

The Zerg were either killed, or fled out of the main hangar door. Stranix aimed his last grenade, sending it arching down the hallway and it filed the corridor with fire.

"Man that hatch, I want firebats on station with marines and goliaths in support!" He screamed. Two firebats sauntered up and stood next to the door in compliance with his order. Their flame throwers were up and ready. Goliaths stood behind them, pointing their auto cannons over the firebat's shoulders. Marines pounded forward and backed up the firebats. Nothing was coming through that doorway, not even the queen of blades herself. 

"Come on ladies, we don't have all day here!" Stranix screamed at the marines, trying to move everyone to the end of the hangar to make room for the incoming dropships. The hangar was quickly getting filled with marines, and there wasn't much room for the dropships to land. 

"Form up into companies, we're launching now, storm the bridge!" Stranix screamed. With those words a long line of marines began to rush in through the doorway, sprinting as fast as their armor would allow. Battle cries and yells filled the air as they filed by companies through the only doorway. Stranix's company was the first to stream through the door. As always he was at the head of the pack. He had never allowed himself to be left behind before, and nothing had changed on this suicide mission. 

He and his men didn't have time to be fancy. They were going full auto on anything that moved. When someone ran out, they dropped out of the charge, and two men clambered to take his place. Stranix was at the head of the charge the whole way. While most officers issued the Impaler with magazines to their men, Stranix used the belt fed version that was built right into his armor. 

Many officers hated how the ammo belt could be cut by a stray spine. Stranix's philosophy was that if the spine cut the ammo belt, then it most likely hit his arm, and he now had no arm. So in a combat zone, he was as good as dead. 

Zerg tried to make runs at the charging marines, but they were slaughtered mercilessly. The tight packed corridors favored the full auto weapons of the marines. When a hydralisk did appear, it sometimes had time enough to let off a spine, however. So marines were falling, but nothing could dampen the charge. The men knew their lives depended on it. They just climbed over the bodies of the dead or wounded. 

Stranix launched a grenade down the corridor, making it bounce around a corner in the hallway. The explosive detonated, frying several Zerg units that were waiting to ambush his men there. 

The charge led them to a service ladder. Since the turbo lifts were deactivated, and they were over one thousand strong, using the turbo lifts was out of the question. So Stranix used his unique knowledge of the ship to direct the charge toward a ladder.

"Get some fire up that ladder!" Stranix barked. "I want a perimeter set up, firebats with marine support on every possible approach vector!" Men moved to comply with his orders. "Keep your eyes open. The Zerg seem to be able to come out of the very ship. Don't miss and light up any friendlies. 

Firebats ran to three of the opening of the four way intersection. They kneeled down, their flame throwers out and ready. Marines came and stood over their shoulders, their gauss rifles cocked and locked. A similar group watched the rear of the advance. 

Two firebats and a pair of marines stood by the ladder. The firebats wafted their flames up the ladder, scorching anything even remotely close. The marines each grabbed two hand grenades, pulled the pins, and hurled them up there one at a time. 

Before Stranix could insist he was the first man to go up the ladder, three marines jumped on it and began to scale it. With suddenness that surprised everyone, a hydralisk appeared out of the ceiling, and speared the marine with it's claws. 

The marines on the ground blazed away at the hydra, knocking it out of it's perch on the ceiling. It took the two remaining marines on the ladder down with it. This time Stranix was the first to jump to replace them.

"Give us some goddamn cover you lazy sons of bitches!" He screamed. Stranix led the climb up the ladder, and the marines on the ground blazed away at the empty bulkheads they could see, without hitting the climbing marines. 

Stranix climbed and climbed, passing level after left. He prayed to every God he knew that there weren't any hydralisks in the hallways because they could launch a spine and send him plummeting, dead before he hit the ground, and he would be powerless to defend himself climbing as he was. 

Finally he reached the bridge level. He leapt off the ladder, kneeling down preparing for any Zerg assault. The hallway was empty, but he knew very well these Zerg were capable of forming out of solid bulkheads. _Solid bulkheads. _He thought to himself. _When giving us cover fire, their rounds weren't bouncing off the bulkheads. _ With that in mind he fired a quick burst into the wall beside him. Nothing. No scratches, or marks of any kind. The rounds were absorbed directly into the ship itself. 

By this time the second, third and fourth marines had climbed the ladder, and took up a position facing down the opposite sides of the corridor. 

Stranix took this lull in the fighting to check on the status of his ammo. It was quite low. He decided to take this opportunity to reload. Just as he was disengaging his rifle, masses of zerglings began to swarm from all four of the corridors. 

Quickly reneging the rifle, he began to blaze away at them. However he soon encountered the second reason why many commanders shunned the belt fed variant. It was an absolute and total bitch to reload under fire. Realizing he would never reload before the first waves met him, he released the catch that dropped the rifle from his right arm, freeing the limb up. He then unholstered his sidearm and began to pummel the mass of 'lings with the small pistol. It wasn't nearly enough. While he had mowed down no less than twelve of them with his gauss rifle, and took out two with the pistol, there were just to many of them. 

A bony head slammed him down with a blow to the chest, and he was stunned, stars before his eyes. He vainly tried to lift his arms to fend off his attacker, but the zergling reared back and prepared to sink it's fangs into the soft flesh of his neck. 

* * * *

"Sir the Stargazer is a dead stick, it's orbit is decaying, they're abandoning ship. The Valhalla is reporting engine failure." Came the report of the desperate sensor technician. 

"Damage report!" Greer yelled. 

"Engines failing, helm is down to thirty percent. We can roll, but anything else is too sluggish to be called a maneuver. Reports of a fire on decks thirteen through eighteen, and the main hold has been destroyed by a direct scourge hit." Said one technician. 

"Weapons are down to fifty percent. We've lost over twenty-five percent of our laser batteries, and one of the reactors. Those lasers that work are loosing power fast. We still have missiles, but we are running out of ammunition, and the targeting systems were damaged by mutalisk fire. Yamato cannon has been deactivated." Said a second.

"Weapons, divert the Yamato cannon reactor's power to laser batteries, that should give you an extra punch for a few barrages." Greer yelled. "And I don't wan't anther scourge to get a hit on us. If it does we're as good as a dead stick.

"Right sir." The weapons technician replied.

"Helm roll us to get our belly as far away from shooting as possible. I want to protect that tender spot where the scourge hit, our reactor is too fucking close to the hold. How far until we can jump out of the system?" Greer asked.

"Sir sub light engines are damaged, we can't jump sir." Replied a technician. 

"So either we defeat this thing, or we die here." Greer said to himself. "Stranix don't you let me down now." He muttered. "Oh well we can still do as much damage as possible."

"Sir!" Screamed a technician. "A scourge is heading for the bridge, it is out of range of all working laser cannons! All bow weapons have been destroyed. 

"Helm can we roll anymore?" Greer screamed as he watched the blur of motion getting closer fast.

"Sorry Captain, helm is not responding." Replied the helmsman. 

"It's heading right for us!" Screamed someone.

"So I guess this is it." Greer muttered to himself.

* * * *

Michaels maneuvered his wraith around the battlefield. Also not being a ground soldier, he was sent out in his fighter. He was flying alone at present, for his wingman had taken a hit from a muta. 

He moved his ship with the liquid grace born of all pilots. Mutalisk fire streaked across the space all around him, but never struck his fighter. While evading a mutalisk, he centered a scourge in his sights. Tightening his finger on the trigger almost nonchalantly he sent hundreds of kilo-joules of energy right into the backside of the blind, ship seeking organic bomb. 

A glave worm grazed his fighter. In response he dove it downward, and cutting into a hard turn, that slammed him into his seat despite the internal compensations. He swung around on it's tail and tried to line it up in his cross hairs. 

The creature was side slipping and barrel rolling to avoid allowing Michaels to get a target lock. He stuck to the creature's tail, mimicking it's every move. His cross hairs were moving closer and closer after every maneuver. Finally he got a lock, and squeezed his secondary triggers, sending a pair of missiles flying to slam into the muta, destroying it. 

A quick glance at his sensors told him he had another mutalisk on his tail. He swung in a hard turn to the right, but the critter stuck with him. He spiraled downward, then snap rolled to the left. The creature was not shaken from his tail, and it's shots were coming closer and closer. 

His travels had brought him close to the masses of capital ships that were firing madly. He thought that perhaps a gunner would see his plight and maybe shake the mutalisk off his tail. The ships however, were concentrating their fire on anything that might danger them, especially scourge. 

He began sweeping along close to the deck of the battlecruiser, hoping maybe a stray shot would light up his muta. None did, and a glave worm bit into his back quarters. Reacting quickly, Michaels swung his ship hard to the left. Out of the corner of his viewport he had the fleeting glimpse of a scourge less than fifty yards to his left. With his turn and the scourge's enhanced speed, there was no way he could dodge. 

"Oh shit." He had time to say quietly.

* * * *

Stranix lay on his back with the zergling on his chest. It reared back, preparing to pierce his faceplate with it's claws. Suddenly a humming thrummed through the air, and a hand punched into the zergling's skull, penetrating bone as if it was paper. The ling writhed and kicked in it's killer's grasp, but there was no escape. Lying in that position, all Stranix could see of his savior was his arm. 

The hand extracted itself from the zergling's skull to reveal the secret of how it got through the bone. Pulsing from it's wrist was a foot long blade made out of pure energy. The blade vanished, and the zealot offered Stranix his hand.

"En taro adun, Terran." Spoke the zealot as he pulled Stranix to his feet. "I would suggest we move quickly, the bridge is not far." 

Stranix looked around. A force of about eight zealots had saved him from the zergling advance. They bore the marks of heavy combat all over their bodies, despite the closely guarded Protoss shielding technology. 

"I thank yo..." Stranix began, but he knocked the zealot aside as he dove on a fallen Impaler. He brought it inline with the zealot, and pulled the trigger.

* * * *

Captain Greer saw the scourge come flying towards the bridge. He knew in seconds his life would end. There was no way to escape. The entire bridge would be incinerated in a giant corrosive cloud of natural acids and explosives. 

Reaction took over, and he dove on the ground, his hands over his head. He felt the whole ship vibrate as the scourge exploded. He felt the chill, and tug as the front viewport exploded outward, venting atmosphere. He braced himself for the inevitable burning as the acid burned his skin away. He knew it would only take a second or two, but it would be the most painful seconds of his life. 

However the seconds trickled by, and still no acid. Come to think of it, the pull of the atmosphere venting wasn't even that of a smashed viewport, it was closer to a small hole. 

He looked up. The bridge was shaken, many having dove for cover like himself, but it was intact. There was a small hole in the front viewport, about the size of a zergling's head. The pull of the air kept him clawing at the ground for support, but he was not being pulled into an airless void. 

"Everyone vacate the area, move to the auxiliary bridge immediately. Get some techs up here to patch that hole!" Greer began to bark orders. "And somebody hold that door before it closes and we all suffocate!" The door to the bridge had automatically began to close to preserve the atmosphere on the rest of the ship.

"Terry!" Greer shouted. 

"Here sir." She replied.

"What the hell happened, why the hell aren't we dead?"

"Sir a wraith collided with the scourge less than fifty meters from the viewport. The explosion made that hole, but did no other visible damage." 

"Lets move people, we don't have air to spare for talking!" Greer screamed. "Move now!" He barked as he began to crawl his way to the door.

* * * *

The grenade leapt from Stranix's borrowed gun. It arched, instead of going strait, so it's trajectory carried it over the shoulder of the group of zealots. It landed right at the corner at the end of the hall where a group of hydralisks had suddenly appeared. They were preparing to launch spines when the grenade hit.

At least three of them were incinerated by the direct blast. Two of them were thrown forward in the middle of launching their spines. Others were knocked down the side hallway.

"My apologies for startling you." Stranix said, getting up. He dropped the borrowed Impaler, and proceeded to reload his own. 

"We must hurry, more Zerg are near." Spoke the zealot, so far he had done all the talking. "We shall have time for introductions later, now I suggest you hurry your men up so we can destroy the source of this evil." 

"Right!" Stranix screamed. "What are you cowards waiting for, the war to end?! We got us a job to finish! We're gonna destroy this ship or die trying!" 

With that motivational speech, men began to flow up over the ladder. When a considerable force was gathered, Stranix charged, not taking the time to wait for the whole force, which could take hours to climb the ladder. 

The group of zealots were out in front. Their psionic blades wreaked havoc on anything in their way. With the marine's gauss rifles, they were all but unstoppable. 

The force of about thirty beings raced down the corridor, mowing down everything and anything in their path. Hydralisks went down before they could let off a spine. Zerglings were cut up, or mowed down as they charged. 

It was like that, yelling and screaming that the force charged onto the bridge. It was empty of Zerg, so Stranix gave the only order he could.

"Destroy everything men. This ship has to have some kind of control originating here. Leave the viewport intact, but as for anything else, if it's in this room, destroy it!" 

"SIR YES SIR!" Screamed back the marines. This was the kind of thing they lived for. 

The men and zealots fanned out. Marines began blowing holes in the walls, floor, computer consoles, sensor stations, you name it, they broke it. 

The zealots were more delicate, but just as effective. They targeted the computer stations in the crew pit, and sliced them open with their blades. 

Firebats spewed out their twin streams of molten death, turning anything they touched into a river of melted slag. Computer screens exploded outward, panels melted, the walls melted, even the goddamn floor melted. More and more men and zealots showed up and added to the carnage of computer parts and equipment. 

Just as every thing in the bridge was either punched full of holes, sliced, or melted, an earsplitting sound cut through the air. It seemed as if the very ship itself was producing the sound. Everyone fell to their knees, clawing in vain, trying to cover their ears against the sound, and being thwarted by their helmets. It made their very bones rattle, and the whole ship began to shake with violent force. Men's mouths were open in screams not even audible over the horrific sound coming from the bowels of the ship.

The ship was trembling so hard that it seemed like it would tear itself apart. Funny thing, that's exactly what happened. The floor of the ship ripped apart, and a gaping hole spread out across the entire ship. A great sense of weightlessness gripped Stranix as he felt his body begin to fall into that hole. 

As he fell, he saw the strangest thing he had ever seen in his life. The metal that made up the bulkheads was a very thin layer. Then underneath that, it looked like there was living, pulsing flesh. It almost resembled the flesh that made up Zerg buildings. 

Stranix and the rest of the men fell. They fell right out of the ship itself. The entire ship had split apart, and the gravity simulators onboard made the men fall. They reached deep space, and the gravity wore off, so they began to float, helplessly. 

Their suits were sealed, so they didn't suffocate, well not everyone. When sealed against hard vacuum, there was positive pressure created . This pressure pushes against the visor. Some of the men's visors were cracked from combat damage. Those visors exploded outward from the pressure. Other's whose suits were damaged also went through the agony of de-pressurization.

* * * *

On the bridge of the Arrogance, they beheld a peculiar sight. All around them the battle raged, and their ship was faring worse and worse. No matter how many Zerg units they shot down, their numbers never seemed to decrease. At least the Vindicator had stopped firing it's Yamato cannon. 

Things got so much weirder very soon. The Vindicator began to shudder violently. Suddenly it ripped apart along the middle, and the two halves began spitting out little figures like fruit rinds. 

While the ship was split like this, Captain Greer saw the strangest thing he had ever seen. Even with what remained of an entire fleet to back him up as witnesses, no one would believe him. The ship's innards were made out of living pulsing flesh. He could see veins, moving and pumping. He could see flesh tones, and blood spewing out of gaping holes. 

After the ship finished spitting out it's "fruit rinds" it came back together, and looked like a regular battlecruiser. Then suddenly it was gone. No flash of a hyperdrive, no glowing engine trail. It was just gone, and it took the entire Zerg force with it. 

"What in the name of all that's holy happened here today?" Greer wondered aloud.

* * * *

Stranix floated, as helpless as could be. The cold of space began to permeate his suit bit by bit. He knew that those who survived wouldn't be alive long. They had a limited supply of oxygen and heat. Damaged armor wasn't much help either. Their oxygen filter could have been damaged in combat, and carbon dioxide would slowly build up and they would suffocate. 

"All right people listen up. We have a situation. I don't need to explain it to you. Here's what we're going to do. The big ships got their own trouble, so we may be short of help. The first thing we do is we're gonna have a call in of every man. Everyone reports to their squad leader. The squad leader reports to a lieutenant, and the lieutenant reports to a captain. The captains report to me with the number of survivors, and how bad their situation is. And anyone who asks me what to do if their squad leader is dead will be left out here to freeze. Got me?"

A deafening series of acknowledgments came back over the radio. 

* * * *

"Give me a report, and I want it now!" Screamed Captain Greer from the floor of the bridge. The entire ship had suddenly given a shudder, and then a violent downward lurch that ripped everyone from their feet. They began to feel the effects of zero gravity.

"Sir, we have a critical failure in the engine room!" Screamed a technician. 

"Why the hell have we lost gravity then?" Greer screamed.

"Sir there seems there was a disruption of power to artificial gravity well number two." The same technician explained.

"Sir that's the least of our problems sir!" Yelled another technician yelled.

"Explain yourself now!" Greer roared.

"Sir with our engines gone, our orbit has begun to decay due to the gravity of the planet. This ship will enter the atmosphere in less than five minutes!"

"Get every mechanic to the engine room and fix that problem. Send out a distress call to the fleet, and have any ship that can help come and aid us!" Screamed Greer. 

"Roger that sir!" Said the communications technician. 

* * * *

"This is the flagship _Arrogance _we have lost our engines and our orbit is beginning to decay. We will enter the atmosphere of the planet in less than five minutes. All ships or anything that can help get over here now!" Came the announcement over the radio. 

Stranix quickly swung his body around so he could see the doomed ship. The other capital ships were all too damaged to help. If they went over close to the planets gravity they too would be sucked in. Their own engines weren't strong enough to resist the pull of gravity if they tried to tractor the _Arrogance. _They too would be pulled down and slam into the planet's surface. 

"We gotta do something!" Stranix said out loud. Suddenly a very outlandish idea struck him. "All right men, today is going to be the most use the SCV has ever had, ever. I want every single SCV to haul ass towards the _Arrogance, _once there, attach yourselves to the hull, and convert all available power to the jets. Your gonna either lift the arrogance clear, or hold it until the engines get fixed. Now move it! MOVE IT! MOVE IT!"

It was a beautiful sight, seeing hundreds of SCVs streaking towards the dying capital ship. One by one they grabbed onto the side of the ship as it began it's descent to the planet. There was a sudden flash of light as the rocket at the back of each space suit doubled in size, the power to it swelling. It was beautiful, watching it, even though men's lives were on the line, and being lost. 

The fact of the matter was that many of the SCVs weren't close enough to the ship to help before it began entering the atmosphere. The prow of the gigantic ship entered the atmosphere, and began to heat up with the air friction. The SCVs could take some heat, but not the amounts they were dealing with. The damaged ones exploded in fiery blasts. 

But still more streaked in, and added their jet to the number of jets pushing the massive ship upwards. Hundreds and hundreds crowded onto the bow of the great ship. They're jets looked like a twinkling of stars on the ships hull. Protoss probes began to come in as well. They were going to add their psyonic power to the jets trying to save the ship. 

Amazingly, the ship's descent visibly slowed. The superheated metal began to cool as the ship settled into something that resembled a stable orbit. More and more SVCs and probes flew in. The ship ever so slowly began to rise. 

With a bright flash the ship's engines suddenly kicked to life. Greer quickly threw every available engine into full reverse to back the falling ship out of the danger zone, and stop burning up SCVs in the atmosphere. 

"All right boys sit tight, We're sending every available craft to pick you guys up. Any SCV out there can pick up a marine or whatever and bring him back to the closest ship. Lets get ourselves out of this God forsaken sector and back to inhabited space." Greer's voice crackled over the radio. "It's time to go home men." 


End file.
